Minutes of Workshop on “Economics Incentives to Improve OSH”

Table 1: Clustered topics of interest concerning the presented results (first group)

Simple schemes for SME / Needs of practitioners / Evaluation / Practicalities, link to policies
Is there any EI useful in general / Systematic overview of existing economic incentives in EU countries / How to incorporate evaluation considerations in scheme design / Knowing problems faced by other countries in implementing their schemes
Concrete cases that prove ROI also in the eyes of SME / Member states experience on the effectiveness of economic incentives as an element supporting OSH compliance with specific legislation / Indicators to asses effectiveness of economic incentives / Practical experience with economic incentives (what works, what not)
SME – best incentive methods in practice / What are the expectations of different stakeholders in the context of economic incentives, i.e. possible role of European commission / How to do cost-benefit analysis of EI schemes from point of view from a government / To develop sector specific EI (or risk specific)
Business as usual relation: which requirements from insurance towards employers -> risk assessment / Methods for evaluation of EI / To understand how explaining to companies that prevention is investment
How left-over are treated?
§  non responding companies
§  workers
§  non-declared accidents / OSH indicators to assess system / Understanding feasibility of different EI schemes for us
What is the most effective bonus-malus system / How supportive are banks when it comes to investment in OSH (Italian system)
Effect indicators used + data available (on different level: firm, individual, country)->macro / Do banks appreciate good OSH figures?
To find out incentive models tailored for specific sectors (e.g. construction)
To develop incentives focussed on critical accident reduction

Table 2: Clustered topics of work experience in the network (first group)

Politics / Methodology / Incentive Schemes
Private insurance company system = risk differentiation / Enterprises require made-to-measures approach (incentives, evaluation) / Development of tools for premium reduction for prevention
No political support (will) / No data available for comparative research / Rebates from incentive system are re-invested in OSH in bigger companies
Lack of data that prove effectiveness / Generalization of evaluation results questionable / Mutual accidents company, Spain prevention methods
Doing cost-benefit analysis, but of regulation same with evaluation / Trade union meeting: definition of accidents, changes in social protection / Reduction accidents, programs at firm level
Political and public ‘delicacy’ of some kinds of incentive schemes / Local administration funding initiatives in prevention activities
Policy analysis (quantitative + qualitative) / Projects on financial funding to SMEs, for compliance programs

Results of the second group:

In this group the interests and experiences were put together to form a map of common topics. The clustering led to the result displayed in Table 3.

Table 3: Clustered topics of interests and work experience in the networkinterest = (i), experience = (e)

Across-analysis and comparative issues / Evaluation of evidence / Economic issues / Case studies collection and learning / State-subsidies /
Across-analysis research (i) / Evaluation of OSH instruments (i) / Evidence synthesis of OSH evaluation (i) / The case studies in general (i) / State-subsidies (non-insurance) (e)
Comparative policy-systems and transferability in OSH initiatives (i) / Economic evaluation of OSH intervention (i) / Anlysis of the evidence & support the effectiveness of EI to promote OSH (i) / The FBG-model (i) / Economic incentives to households to improve employment (government tax initiative) how to include OSH? (e)
Workers compensation comparative issues (e) / Economics of OSH (e) / Evaluation methods on regulation enforcements (e) / The german meat industry model (premium reductions that are directed towards OSH productivity) (i)
Evaluation of effectiveness of experience rating programs (e) / Systematic review of OSH interventions with economic evaluations (e) / The Italian scheme (funding, financing industry to achieve improvements in OSH productivity (i)
Insurance and OSH interactions (e) / Software development for SME to undertake economic evaluations (e) / The swiss bonus-malus model for medical enterprises
Private insurance, employers liability & 3rd party liability (public liability) schemes, risk management, premium settings (e) / Prevention in SMEs and legal obligations (e)
The Pond-model (by Prevent) (e)

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EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

Minutes of Workshop on “Economics Incentives to Improve OSH”

Table 4: Activities and steps (group 3: Political framework)

How to reach the goal? / What are the next steps
§  Evaluating a priori the impact of economic incentives on national level
§  Convince political decision makers that economic incentives pay off / Reports:
§  widen focus of cost-benefit analysis including health data
§  include descriptive elements on dynamics of stakeholders and links with national strategies
§  Create national platforms for communication between stakeholders on economic incentives / §  Agency creates stepwise approach how to create national platforms
§  Agency gets involved in national strategies

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EU-OSHA – European Agency for Safety and Health at Work